When Tony Met Max
by Darkangel81
Summary: Crossover- kinda. Dark AngelNCIS. Let's assume Max and Tony knew each other- and now Max needs his help in a matter of life and death.Even if you are not familar with Dark Angel- it's just another NCIS story then!
1. Chapter 1

NCIS/ Dark Angel crossover- kinda 

Hey you guys! This is just something I needed to try. I'm not sure if it might be leading anywhere, and it sure doesn't make much sense, starting with the time setting. I just needed to get it out of my head anyway. Let's just say the Dark Angel storyline took place around 2000, or the NCIS around 2025, whichever you prefer.

Let's just imagine for a moment that Tony DiNozzo knew Max Guevara pretty much like Logan Cale knew Max Guevara.

Give it a shot!

* * *

When Tony Met Max

Chapter 1

„Come on, Kate. I was just kidding! You don't look much older than 25." Tony gave her one of his trademark grins, aware of the fact that she was one of few women who seemed to be able to resist it- even if it was hard to believe.

"Safe it, Tony."

"I never meant to hurt you, I'm a nice guy underneath all this…"

"…immature act you put on? Yeah, right." Kate stepped closer to him, he could smell her perfume. She almost touched him. "I can put up with a lot from you, DiNozzo. But you know what, it would be nice if I could actually believe that there is more about you- but you never ever gave me cause to, alright? To me it really seems like this is all there is to you." Kate kept her eyes fixed on him, ready to respond to every possible line to insult her he would come up with next. Only there was nothing. His eyes had wandered from hers and followed something that was behind her. For a moment she lost her composure. Would this guy ever do what she expected from him? Had he changed his tactics? There had to be a reason for this act… "Tony, what the hell…"

He completely ignored her, almost shoving her aside when he took a step forward. "Max." His voice lacked all the teasing it usually possessed.

At hearing a female voice Kate turned around to see a beautiful, slim brunette with long, curly hair and big brown eyes standing there. She wore tight blue jeans that rode low on her hips and a leather jacket.

"What are you doing here?" Tony sounded utterly confused now. He bit his lower lip, running his hand nervously through his hair.

"I…I don't know."

Kate looked from one person to the other, they both seemed to have forgotten that other people were in the room.

"I see." Tony stood up straighter. "I've got work to do." He turned around harshly and stumbled rather than walked back to his desk, sinking down in his chair. Kate assumed that he would not have been able to keep standing another second. She had never seen her self-confident co-worker rattled like this. And all because of a woman? She shook her head in disbelief.

"Tony? Please." The young woman took a step closer, her eyes filled with fear and desperation. Kate started to feel sorry for her. Whatever it was, something bothered her.

"What?" The furious scream pierced through the air and Kate turned her head back to where her friend now stood, his hands leaning on his desk. His chair had slammed into the drawers behind him, underlining the question with a loud crash-sound.

"I…I need your help. I didn't know where else to go, I…Please. Listen to me." Max swallowed hard.

"No! No, Max! I'm not gonna listen to you! Forget it!" With that he grabbed his jacket and stormed past the two women, almost running into Gibbs and spilling his boss's precious coffee on his way to the exit.

"What the hell is the matter with DiNozzo?"

"Morning, boss." Kate took a deep breath.

"What's going on?" His gaze fell on the young stranger standing in his bullpen, looking like she was about to cry.

"Guess he isn't too happy about seeing me," Max admitted, trying to force a smile on her face.

"I'll go find him." Kate stated, dropping the file she had been carrying the whole time on her desk. "Be right back."

"Are you okay, miss?" Gibbs asked, uncharacteristically worried.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine. Guess I already knew this was going to happen."

"Then why did you come? DiNozzo really isn't worth crying over, you know," Gibbs tried to ease the tension.

"I need his help." Max whispered. "I really do."

* * *

TBC

I know Max is out of character right now, but it's an extreme situation…and it's my story:)

What do you think?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and I don't intend to make money out of this.

A/N: I am aware of the fact that the story is OOC, but no matter how hard I try, I just don't seem to be able to write them any differently! It's an extreme situation, maybe that's just the way they would react, who knows. Hope you still like it!

* * *

Chapter 2

"Tony!" Kate ran down the stairs when she had discovered her colleague making his way down the street. "Tony, wait!"

He stopped abruptly, taking deep and measured breaths.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"Nothing." His jaw was tight.

"Didn't seem like nothing."

"It's none of your business, Kate. Stay out of this."

"Tony! This girl was scared, she didn't do anything to you. She just wanted to talk."

"Oh, yeah? Did she?"

"What's up?" Kate cocked her head. "She an ex?"

Suddenly he looked at her and Kate was shocked when she saw the hurt in his eyes. He didn't look like the Tony she knew at all anymore.

"Tony," Kate pressed, gently laying a hand on his trembling arm.

"She…" He gasped, jerking away from her touch. "Yes," he added calmly after a moment. "Yes, she is."

"And?"

"And nothing. We broke up, no big deal."

"Tony," Kate smiled gently. "Even if I wasn't trained for this kind of thing, I'd know that it bothers you a lot."

He shrugged. "I'm not that good at hiding, either, huh?" He took a few steps until he had reached a bench and sank down, closing his eyes. Kate patiently waited for him to gather his thoughts.

"We worked together, in Seattle."

"When have you been in Seattle?" Kate asked incredulously. She knew his file, not once was Seattle mentioned there.

"I had it erased from my file."

That was it? Kate couldn't believe things could be that simple, but right now that wasn't the point. "Okay, go on."

"At first our relationship was strictly business, but it changed. I'd found my soulmate," he snorted. "Guess she had another one."

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "She told me it was best for both of us; that she meant nothing but trouble. That she put me in danger just being with me. That she didn't want to be responsible for my death."

"Doesn't sound like it was easy for her." Kate carefully watched him. The pain was tangible.

"Whatever. She stuck to her words. She just locked me out, refused to even talk to me. Dated another guy. Eventually I gave up, moved away. End of story."

"So why do you think she came here?"

"I don't know."

"She seemed pretty desperate."

"Max isn't desperate."

"She seemed to me."

Tony hesitated for a moment, and then he shook his head. "I don't give a damn."

"Really?" Kate asked. "Come on, you can't say her appearance hasn't affected you."

"What if I tried?" He knew it was a lame attempt.

"Then I'd call you a liar." Kate grinned. "Talk to her, DiNozzo."

Tony stared straight ahead for a long moment before he finally nodded. "You're right."

"I'm always right."

"Now you're the liar!" For a short moment the Tony DiNozzo Kate knew was back. Why had she never appreciated him? She hated seeing him like that, all serious and obviously hurting.

"May I can help you, Mrs…"

"Max. Just Max."

"Okay, Max. I'm Jethro."

"Nice meeting you." She seemed light years away.

"So, Max. Do you mind telling me what's gotten you all upset?"

"I'm sorry. I really don't want to talk about it."

"Okay. Do you want to wait for Tony? I'm sure Kate will convince him to come back."

Max shook her head. "No, it's okay. I wasn't sure if I should contact him in the first place. It's been a mistake." She sniffed, smiling sadly. "Tell him I'm sorry. Good bye."

"Max…" Gibbs tried.

"Good bye."

"Where did she go?" Kate looked around, trying to find the cute brunette.

"She left." Gibbs stated, his eyes narrowing. "Said she was sorry she bothered you. And now let's get back to work."

"Boss, I…when did she go?" Tony fidgeted nervously.

"Couple of minutes ago. Now what? This is not the time for you to sort through your private life, DiNozzo!"

"Sorry, boss. I just…I need to find her."

Kate watched him run back the way they had just come before her eyes returned to Gibbs. "Listen, Gibbs. I know this doesn't belong here, but…"

"Get back to work, Agent Todd." He smiled despite his strict tone, indicating that he was fine with Tony's decision.

"Max! Max, wait! What's going on?" Tony had caught up with her in the lobby. Apparently she was in no rush.

"I shouldn't have come."

"No, don't say that. It's alright."

Max forcefully grabbed his arm and pushed him into an empty conference room.

"They are taking us out, Tony. One by one." She kept her voice low.

"What? Who?"

"I don't know who." She sounded nervous and lost. "There is no Manticore anymore, or so we thought."

"How many already?"

"Five of us. There are only three of us left, Tony. And I don't want them to kill us as well."

"Who is us?"

"Jace, me- and Alec."

A piercing pain shot through Tony's heart at the mentioning of the name, but he covered it immediately. "Where are they?"

"Jace is hiding in Mexico, Alec is still in Seattle, too stubborn to take any precautions. I can't do this alone, Tony. I didn't know where else to go."

"You think the government is behind this?"

"It's likely, don't you think? Nobody else really knows about this project. Maybe they want all traces to disappear."

Tony leaned against the closed door. "You know what you're asking of me, right? Me going after the government I'm working for."

"Not the whole government, just a small subgroup of sadists." Max's voice was dripping with hatred.

"This is huge. I can't do it alone."

"You can't tell anyone. It's too risky, for them and for us. You know that."

"My team will ask, Max. They are my friends, they worry. They will find out something's up and they won't just watch me dig into this."

"Do you trust them?"

"Yes." He answered immediately, without a second of hesitation. He knew how much this one word meant for Max, and he also was well aware that she still had destroyed all trust he used to have in her.

"Okay."

"I will tell them all of it, Max. If they get into this they deserve to know."

"I don't have much to lose."

"Okay, then…" Tony turned to leave the room when Max grabbed his arm.

"Wait."

He looked down to see her hand on his bare skin.

Max also looked at it and drew her hand back immediately. "There is something else. About what happened between us…"

"Don't. It's been a long time. I don't want to go back there." With that he left her standing there, alone.

* * *

TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, don't intend to make any money (though I could definitely use it) and am just trying to have some fun! 

A/N: Sorry if I confused anybody, wasn't my intention. To clear things up: Tony is not Logan. Tony is Tony from NCIS, Max is Max from Dark Angel. I thought about getting Tony in connection with Eyes Only but decided against it. He somehow doesn't seem like that kind of guy:- )  
If this story goes well, maybe I (or somebody else!) will write a crossover with Logan and Kate or something like that- who knows:- ) But for now, enjoy this one.

And thanks for the reviews! They really help a lot in terms of motivation! So keep'em coming.

I'm also terribly sorry about spelling, grammar or vocabulary errors, mistakes and slips. English ain't my first language!

* * *

Chapter 3 

"Tony, are you okay?" Kate frowned worriedly when her partner returned to the bullpen. "Did you find her?"

"Yeah." He tiredly sank down in his chair, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

"Yeah, what?" Kate pressed.

"Listen, I…I need to take a few days off." Why didn't he want to tell them? In front of Max he had made them seem like people he trusted, and now he couldn't tell them? He didn't want them involved, didn't want them to risk their jobs, let alone their lives for this. On his way back up to the office he had thought about it, and it just wasn't fair to make them a part of this chase. He had to do it alone, with Max. Just like it used to be.

"DiNozzo, what the hell's going on?" Gibbs stepped closer, his gaze intimidating but Tony didn't even notice.

"Nothing, I just have to take care of a few things."

"There's something going on and you will let us in," Gibbs stated firmly.

"It's nothing, alright?"

"Tony, please." Kate tried. "Maybe we can help."

Tony shook his head. "You have no idea who you would be up against. I don't want you to take those risks," he hissed, trying to keep his voice low.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs stepped even closer. "You tell me what's going on, now. We're a team, right? You and or your ex girlfriend seem to be in trouble, and I want to know."

"Tony?" Max had returned to the bullpen as well, now standing behind Kate and Gibbs, swallowing hard. She shook her head almost imperceptible. "I…I'm leaving. I shouldn't have come here in the first place. It was a mistake. Just forget I've even been here." She turned to leave.

"The government is after her," Tony hastily admitted, making Max stop in her tracks.

"Why?" Kate asked, feeling awfully sorry for the girl. She didn't look like she had done anything wrong.

Tony looked around. "Can we go somewhere else?"

"Okay, what's up?" Gibbs asked once he had closed the door to Abby's room behind him. She had worked late the other night and had yet to show up for work.

Tony sighed. "You sure you want in on this?"

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs warned.

"Okay, here we go. Max is the product of some government program. They intended to engineer the perfect soldier."

"Genetically enhanced?" Kate asked. ""They really did this already?"

"Yeah." Tony raised his eyebrows. "About 14 years ago a few of those kids escaped. She was one of them."

"And now they are coming after us, killing us." Max explained, her voice lacking all emotions.

"Why only now?" Gibbs leaned against the desk, intently looking at the young woman.

"Maybe it took them that long to find us, I don't know. All I know is that there are only three of us left, five already died by the hands of those sadists."

"And you think Tony can help you?" Kate asked.

Max shrugged, looking up at the younger man. "I didn't know where else to go. I know that we haven't been close and we haven't parted on good terms, but…he's the only person I can still trust. Listen, my sister has a little boy, I don't anything to happen to them. I don't care about myself, but Jace and Max…And Alec…"

Kate had her eyes fixed on Tony and registered the barely visible tensing at Max's last word. Maybe Tony really had a more serious side to him than she would have guessed.

"So what can we do?" Gibbs pressed.

"I'll go to Seattle with her. I'll just have to take a vacation leave."

"Kate and I will come. There isn't much going on here anyway, and I'll deal with the big boss."

"Gibbs, it's too…"

"Dangerous?" The older man snorted. "Shut up, DiNozzo. Kate, book a flight, the earliest we can get. Then head home to pack a few things. We'll meet at the airport."

"Thank you." Max smiled gratefully.

OO

Tony looked the familiar buildings pass by on their way into the city. It's been a while since he had been here, but it still was vivid in his memory. It had been the best two years of his life- until Max had destroyed all his dreams. It had taken him a long time to get ready to move on, but in Washington, D.C., with NCIS, he had finally found his peace again. And now she had returned, turning his whole life upside down again. Why had she done that to him?  
But when he looked at the tired and exhausted young woman sitting next to him in the rented car, he knew the answer. She hadn't seen another way to get out of this mess, she really needed him and there was no way in hell he was going to let her down.

"You are welcome to stay at my place," Max offered. "It's not big, but it could do the trick. You can of course check into a hotel as well. I'll pay for all your expenses."

"Staying at your place for a few nights is fine by me." Kate decided. "What do you think?"

"No problem." Gibbs agreed. "Not like we will spend a lot of time hanging out."

"What about Cindy?" Tony asked.

"She isn't there."

"Oh, you live with Alec now?" His voice had a dangerous edge.

"No, Cindy, she just moved in with a friend the other week. I asked her to."

"Okay, let's get started." Gibbs accepted a cup of coffee and then walked over to the window, leaning against the frame. "What do we have?"

"Not much." Max sighed. "Actually that would be an exaggeration."

"Can you tell us about when and how your …siblings…died?"

Max rattled off the information, but there was no pattern at all.

"But you are sure that they are after you?"

Max shrugged, for the first time in weeks feeling like she was safe again. Tony, who was sitting on the couch, gave her that feeling. With him around she knew she was going to be fine. It had always been like that.

"Yes."

Tony got up and walked over into the kitchenette, opening a drawer without hesitating and got bag of crackers. "The only thing the victims have in common is the connection to Manticore," he offered before showing a cracker into his mouth. He slowly seemed to lose some of the tension and return to normal Tony-behaviour. At least Kate hoped so. As much as her partner tended to annoy her, it was far more disconcerting seeing him all serious and tense.

"Where are the bodies?" Kate asked.

"We only got Zack back," Max's voice almost broke.

"He was the CO," Tony explained. "You think they gave you the body on purpose?"

"He was the first," Max fought back the tears. "I guess it was their sick way to warn us. We buried him in the woods. Nobody knows where it is but us."

"Can you take us there?" Gibbs asked.

"Of course."

OO

"It's over there." Max stopped, indicating a triangle of bushes. "Right in the middle. It's just…don't make me go there, please."

"Okay, Kate, you go back to the car with her."

She wordlessly handed her boss the shovel she was carrying and laid a hand on Max's shoulder. "Come on."

Tony looked after the two women for a long moment.

"You comin'?"

"Sure boss." He had never seen Max weak like that, not in front of other people. This had shattered her to the bone and he didn't feel anger against her anymore, not right now. His feelings had to wait.

OO

Max wordlessly sat down in the backseat of the car, hugging herself tight, stoically staring ahead. She hadn't been forced to think like a soldier for years. She couldn't just leave all her emotions behind and concentrate on the task at hand, not anymore. If she had to, she would blame that on Tony. He had been the first person in the world she had been able to open up to, and with that the walls had crumbled.

"You know," Kate started, sitting down in the front seat, staring out the window into darkness. "I've never seen Tony like that."

Max looked up in surprise.

"He usually is a lot more annoying," Kate tried to explain without being negative. "He always jokes around, has witty comebacks." She shifted in the seat so she was looking at Max. "Do you mind telling me what happened? I mean, if you don't want to, it's okay…"

"He didn't tell you guys anything about me, huh? That's just like him. Bottling his emotions up." Max smiled sadly. "There isn't much to tell though. You see what's going down right now. I knew this was going to happen eventually and I couldn't have him involved. I love him, Kate. Always have and always will. But pushing him away was the only way to protect him."

"You hurt him a lot, you know."

"Yes, I do." Max swallowed. "And it's been the hardest thing I've ever done in my life."

"But when you say you love him that much, why did you hook up with another guy?"

"Alec?"

"I guess so, according to how Tony reacted every time his name fell."

Max bit her lip. She didn't know why she was doing this, but somehow it felt right to confess in this woman. "I've never hooked up with Alec. I…I just didn't object when Tony assumed that…"

"Oh." Kate raised her eyebrows.

"He wouldn't give up. I didn't know what else to do."

"So you had him think you were with another guy so he would leave you alone?"

"And save his ass." Max added trying to sound convinced.

Kate nodded. "You said you wanted to protect him from all this- but now, what you feared is happening. And you came to him and asked for his help. He's right where you didn't want him to be, Max." She didn't sound accusing at all, but it still stung.

The younger woman looked up in shock, unable to find an answer. Kate was right! "I…" Max stuttered. "I need him," she confessed tonelessly.

* * *

TBC 

Please review to let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. 

A/N: Sorry it took me a little longer, busy busy…:) But now: ENJOY! (And maybe leave a review? Would be awesome)

And to answer a question: There is no Logan in this story. Sorry.

* * *

Chapter 4 

"We got the body," Gibbs knocked at the car window. "Tony is checking him for anything that might help us. We should have brought Abby and Ducky."

"Boss?" Tony's voice penetrated the silence that had surrounded them for a moment after Gibbs' statement. Wordlessly the older man turned around and disappeared into the darkness again.

"What?"

"I think there's something underneath his finger nails. There must have been some sort of fight, might be skin and a little blood."

"You pay attention when Ducky does his job, huh?"

Tony shrugged, one of his trademark grins threatening to spread on his face. "Better paying attention to what he's doing than listening to what he's telling."

"We send it to Abby, maybe it really is a hint. Anything else?"

"I'm not the expert, boss."

"We take him. I'm sure Ducky knows somebody working somewhere around here we can trust."

Together they carried the body back to the car and placed it in the trunk. Tony tried not to think about who that was, he knew very well what this guy had meant to Max. He couldn't go there, not while on the job. He had to focus.

xx

An hour later the group was back at Max's apartment. Gibbs had been right, a long term friend of Ducky's worked in Seattle and he had agreed on examining the body without asking questions. They had stopped by there and now couldn't do anything but wait for the autopsy results.

"I think I'll go to bed. It's been a long day," Kate announced mere minutes after they had entered the apartment.

"Yeah, me too." Gibbs agreed. "Night." The two agents disappeared into the only other room and left Tony and Max behind. Tony watched the young woman hesitantly for a moment before he got up and walked to the window, staring out at the dark city.

"Thank you for coming here," Max's voice was soft.

"Of course."

"Tony, I…"

"Max, can we please just concentrate on solving this? You know that it's important to focus, don't allow emotions to interfere." Tony turned around to look at her. "We'll find them, Max."

"Yeah."

"And now let's go to work," he gave her one of his brilliant smiles before he sank down on the sofa, opening his lap top.

"What do you think you can find?"

He shrugged. "Check out the government buddies here, see if we can tie one of them to Manticore or find some other odd things. I mean, we can probably find a lot of odd things when it comes to government guys, it might get interesting. You got some potato chips?"

Max shot him an amused glance. "You haven't changed at all."

"Yeah well, guess I just didn't grow up."

While Tony was working on the computer Max paced the living room nervously. She didn't like being the one chased, she hated that feeling. It wasn't what they had been taught, hiding. She was supposed to go out there, face the danger and win the battle. Only this time it had seemed too huge. Who ever was behind them had been able to take out Zack and all the other well trained super soldiers, apparently without breaking a sweat. She couldn't do this on her own, not this time.

"Ha!" Tony's voice interrupted her dark thoughts.

"What?"

"It's not like it says Manticore in his bio, but it sure seems odd that around the time you guys were…born, there is a gap. No data."

"So we found our guy?"

"Yeah, him or he two other guys with similarly weird information." Tony yawned. "Sorry, Max. All I could come up with. But it at least minimized the amount of suspects. Now we know which DNA Abby has to check out first. I think I'll get some sleep," he checked his watch. "An hour should do." He slipped his shoes off and, groaning, let his body fall sideways on the sofa. "Night."

"Night."

"Max?" Tony's voice was heavy with sleep. "Get some rest." Then his breathing eased and found its own slow rhythm while he drifted off.

Max sat down on the comforter across from Tony and also closed her eyes. There was nothing else she could do right now, and a little bit of sleep couldn't hurt. The soft breathing her enhanced ears easily picked up lulled her into a light daze soon.

xx

Tony stirred when the sun was shining on his face, groaning he sat up, his whole body stiff. A little shocked he noticed his co-workers and Max already sitting at the kitchen table, intently reading some notes.

"Morning." Kate's voice made him groan again.

"What time is it?"

"Way past eight." Max's voice sounded a lot more upbeat than the day before. "You've never been a morning person."

Mumbling something that wasn't meant for the others to be understood Tony retreated to the bathroom in order to take a much needed shower.

xx

"What is it?" Tony had a towel around his neck, his hair still dripping.

"I can't reach Alec. He doesn't answer his phone, or when I beeped him" Max's voice was filled with panic. "They have him, I know it. Damn it, I told him to get out of the city."

"Okay, take it easy. We don't know if he was really aught. Maybe he still sleeps, doesn't hear the phone ringing."

"I'll go over to his place." Tony announced. For now his feelings towards the guy who had taken his girl were forgotten.

"I'll go with you." Max decided immediately.

"You shouldn't…" Kate tried.

"No, I know the shortest way and I can't just sit around and wait."

"We'll be okay." Tony assured his friends. "I have the files of the three guys I thought looked suspicious on the laptop. Maybe you can send their information to Abby. Have her check them first."

"Okay. Call when you found something." Gibbs decided.

xxxx

TBC…


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: See other chapters

A/N: Thanks to everybody who found the time to review. I really appreciate that.

And to clear things up: There is no Logan in his story (I know it sucks) - Tony is Tony. He just used to know Max. I thought about having Eyes Only involved somehow, but eventually I decided against it.

And now enjoy!

Chapter 5

"Boss. Alec isn't here, and he either left in a rush or was forced to." Tony didn't take his eyes from Max. She was focused on the task at hand now; the soldier in her was back. It had always scared him that there was a part of her he couldn't understand at all. When she was like that he knew there was no way he could reason with her, she was a soldier and did just what she thought was right, based on the training she had had as a child.

"Okay, come back here. Abby called, she already got the package and is working on it, and she should have the results in about an hour or two."

"Okay. We'll be there." Tony closed his cell phone and slipped it back into the pocket of his jacket. "Max? Let's head back, we won't find anything here." He carefully put a hand on her shoulder and felt her tense. "Come on."

xx

"They haven't found a thing," Gibbs informed Kate who had pretty much come to this conclusion herself by looking at her boss's face.

"I just hope we can find this freak before anything happens to Max. She seems like a really nice girl who doesn't deserve this."

"Yeah."

"And I'm not sure how Tony would handle it if anything goes sideways. She seems to be really important. After all, he didn't hit on her once since she showed up." Kate tried to ease then tension.

"Seems like he can be a lot more mature than we though, huh?" Gibbs grinned before he concentrated on the job again, his mask back in place and Kate knew that this was as much emotional chat as he would allow.

xx

"Do you think, you know, Alec is still…"

"Alive?" Max shrugged. "I think so, he just has to be."

"Do you know about…" Tony stopped when a motor roared up on the otherwise calm street. He looked up to see a black minivan speeding towards them. Before he had even had the time to reach for his gun they were surrounded by six guys in black overalls and masks.

"Get in the van! Now."

When they both hesitated the one closest to Tony aimed a gun at his temple. "Now!"

Within thirty seconds the black minivan was speeding up again. Inside Tony and Max both had to hand over their cell phones and then were tied up, blindfolded and gagged. The men were efficient, acting in silent understanding.

xx

"Tony and Max not back yet?" Kate had decided to take a shower while waiting for her partner and the girl they were trying to help.

"No." Gibbs checked his watch again, hardly stopping what he was doing on the computer. "It's taking them pretty long though."

"I'll call him." Kate announced. The room was silent for a moment minus Gibbs' furious typing.

"His cell's switched off." Kate's voice had risen above her usual calm tone. She quickly called another number. "Max's too."

"Damn!" Gibbs angrily slammed his fist on the table. "And we still have no lead."

"You think whoever is responsible for…has them?"

"What do you think?" Gibbs raised his eyebrows.

Instead of answering, Kate closed her eyes for a moment, trying to tell herself to stay calm. The worries for her partner were not allowed to interfere with her work.

"Get Abby on the phone, tell her to work faster. Time's running out."

"You think they are still alive?" Kate swallowed.

"Would you rather assume they are dead and call it a night," Gibbs snapped, a little too harsh.

"No, I…Abby? Kate. Have you found anything?...Then try harder. They've got Tony….Yeah, of course…Thanks."

"Let's go."

Kate grabbed her bag on her way to the door. "Where?"

"Alec's place."

xx

Tony groaned, he felt like the worst hangover he had ever had before had been a ride in the park. His shoulders ached, his throat was dry and his lips cracked under movement. Slowly, he forced his eyes open, heavy lids fighting against his command. "Max," his voice cracked barely above a whisper. "Max?"

"How do you feel?"

Her voice seemed stronger than his and when he tentatively turned his head in the direction of her voice he could see her sitting in a corner, leaning against the wall. He lost his focus immediately, her slim form losing sharpness until he could see it twice. He quickly closed his eyes again, trying to avoid the nausea that threatened to engulf him.

"Like shit." He groaned again. "What happened?"

"I think they drugged us. I have no clue how long I have been out."

"How long have you been awake?" He raised hand to his forehead.

"About an hour."

"Are we alone?" Tony gained more trust in his body and started to sit up, using the cold wall behind him as support.

"Yes, but I think I hear Alec. I think he is somewhere down here as well."

"Where the hell are we?"

"Some basement, there was light coming in from above, but the sun must have wandered." She looked at him worriedly. "Are you really okay?"

"Yeah, just thirsty." Only now did he realize that he was chained to the wall with a thick metal chain wrapped around his wrist. Looking up he realized that Max was just as trapped as he was.

Max threw a bottle of water over. "Courtesy from our friends."

"Thanks." His hands shook badly but eventually he managed to open it and take a sip. Closing the bottle he looked around, taking in his depressing surroundings. It was dark, clammy, and cold. There was nothing in the room, no table, no chairs, nothing they could use to defend themselves even if they would have had a chance to reach it. "Have you seen the guy?"

Max shook her head. "Only woke up in here." She stood up, taking two steps along the walls before the chained halted her movement. She reminded Tony of a caged animal. "Guess this is gonna be an uncomfortable wait," she told him, the old confidence back in her voice for some odd reason. Tony knew her well enough though, he knew why her attitude had changed despite being trapped. Now she knew what she was fighting against, she knew what she had to do in situations like this, the enemy now had a face.

xxx

TBC 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: See chapters before 

A/N: Sorry it took me so long, but real life's pretty busy right now. But I'll try to post again soon.

Reviews are always welcomed:)

* * *

Chapter 6

Gibbs shook his head, frustrated. "There's nothing." The worry for his agent was wearing at him. "Has Abby called yet?"

Kate didn't bother to answer; instead she scanned the floor for the tenth time, hoping to find something, anything.

"We're running out of time." Gibbs cursed when a knock on the door caught their attention. Looking at each other and reaching for their guns in silent understanding they sneaked over. Gibbs slowly opened the door, looking at an old woman with white hair. She was understandably shocked by the gun. "Sorry. Can we help you ma'am?"

"I…I was just wondering what was going on here." Her voice shook.

Then Kate stepped into her view and she visibly relaxed. "What do you mean?"

"So many people have been here today. First this group of guys… I thought that maybe they were Alec's basketball team as they all came in the same van, they didn't look friendly though. Then there were this nice girl and the handsome guy, and…"

"What do you remember about that van?" Gibbs pressed.

"Oh, I don't know much about cars, when I was young, you know, we didn't really…" She noticed that the two people apparently were not interested in her story and she stopped herself. "Anyway, I do know this type of car because my son used to have one like those, and he loved it- you know, I never understood how he could care as much about the car, he should rather have found himself a nice girl…"

Kate shot Gibbs a look, she was on edge and didn't have the patience to deal with this right now.

"Miss…?"

"Flemming," She smiled sweetly.

"Miss Flemming, could you just let us know what kind of car it was, we're kind o in a hurry here." He presents his badge. "NCIS."

"Oh, that police? Like FBI?"

"Pretty much." Gibbs agreed.

"Oh, did something happen to Alec? He is such a nice guy you must know. He always helps me when I need to buy heavy things."

"Miss Flemming…" Kate reminded her.

"Right. A black Chrysler van. There are not many of those around, according to my son. Too expensive, especially in the city. I mean, I never got a driver's license myself, but I can imagine how hard it is to find a parking space for a car like that."

Kate smiled again. "Anything else?"

"Hmm, well, I might be wrong, but I think the plate said S1222. Washington."

Kate's eyes grew and Gibbs grin spread across his face. Wordlessly he switched his phone opened and speed dialled Abby's number. "Abs? Check a license plate for me. Washington State, S1222…Good."

"Did I help?" Mrs Flemming straightened in excitement. "You know, I don't even know why I paid attention to the plate. Usually I never do, but this time…" She shook her head, apparently at awe with herself.

"You did help a lot. Thank you so much." Kate shook her hand. "And now, would you please excuse us?"

"Of course, of course. Good luck finding that guy. What did he do? Drive too fast?"

"Something like that," Kate smiled. "Good bye, Mrs Flemming."

She hurried after Gibbs who had already walked towards the staircase. "Wow, that I call luck."

"We don't know if it helps." Gibbs warned her.

xx

Max kept pacing in the small dark room as far was the chain around her wrist allowed while Tony sat at the wall, still feeling vaguely dizzy and nauseated, probably from whatever substance he had been knocked out with.

Suddenly a key rattled in the lock and Max stopped her pacing to stand on alert, her whole body tense. "Sit down!" A guy with a black mask and a gun in his hands entered their prison.

"What do you want?" Max asked.

"What do you think?"

"Kill me because you're a sick bastard?"

The man let out a laugh. "Clever girl. That was exactly how I had planned it, but now, that I caught you with some cop, I think I'm going to heighten my fun."

"What makes you think he's a cop?" Max asked, her voice slightly more insecure though Tony was pretty sure only he could hear the difference. His heart beat faster. That didn't sound good for him.

"Doesn't really matter what, I just do. And I also think that you won't be too happy about watching him die."

"Let him go, he has nothing to do with this."

"Oh yeah?" The guy stepped closer to Tony and watched him for a second. "What do you have to say about that?"

Tony only stared back at the intense grey eyes he could see through the mask.

"She's hot, isn't she? You did her last night?"

"None of your damn business," Tony spat out.

"Too bad then. Would have been your last chance." Without warning he kicked Tony in his abdomen. Tony groaned, gritting his teeth. The moment he opened his eyes again he could see the foot shoot out again, this time right in his face.

"Stop it! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Max shouted, drawing the attention away from Tony. "You're gonna pay for that."

The guy stared back. "I'll be back. Want to give you some time to say good bye." With that he turned on his heels and left the room, banging the door shut behind him, but leaving it unlocked.

"Tony?" Max swallowed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he winced. His lip was bleeding and his rib cage hurt like hell. Maybe that guy had broken or at least bruised some badly.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here."

"It's okay," Tony fought out between gritted teeth. "Gibbs will find us."

xx

"Gibbs?"

"Hey, boss. The car belongs to one Ken Lang, the DNA you gave me matches. I traced his cell phone and he is in the woods somewhere outside Seattle. He doesn't move so there probably is some kind of cabin out there, but I can't really tell. I'm sending the coordinates to your computer right now."

"How far?"

"About an hour and a half from your current position."

"Damn." Gibbs closed his phone before Abby had a chance to reply and then swivelled the car around at full speed.

Kate looked at him with big, worried eyes. He didn't have to say out loud that one hour might be too long for Tony and Max.

xx

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this posted, but real life's pretty busy these days! I promise to continue asap, I've not abandoned the story! 

I saw the season's finale only the other day, and I was pretty shocked the third season's gonna be without Sasha- but I'm sure it's still gone be a great show- even though the chemistry between Kate and Tony will be greatly missed. Can't wait for Season 3!

Chapter 7

Tony and Max sat silently in the semi darkness, unable to do anything but wait. Max had tried countless times to break the chain, to no avail.

"I could've imagined a nicer place to do this, but as far as I'm concerned this is the time to do some talking," Tony tried, his voice hoarse.

Max looked up for a moment, but she couldn't hold his gaze. "I'm sorry. It just seemed to be the right thing to do. I…"

"Do you have an idea how much you hurt me?" Tony pressed.

"Yes, I know how much I hurt." Max let her hands fall limply to her lap.

"You know, at first I didn't think I could move on…"

"But you did, and you seem to be happy. You got a great jobs, you seem to get along great with your team…"

"Yeah," Tony snorted. Max was right about that part. He did enjoy his work, he knew Gibbs, Kate, McGee, Abby, Ducks and all the other agents at NCIS were nice people, and some of them even were close friends, people he trusted. But there was this other part of his life, the part where he went out with countless women and never took any of those flings to a more serious level. The part where he could enjoy the company of a beautiful woman for an evening and the night that followed but where he woke up in the morning, panicking. Afraid that if he let that girl any closer she would hurt him. "Look, Max…"

"Shhh," her harsh voice immediately stopped him, and a few moments later he could hear a key unlocking the door. His heart rate increased and he sat up straighter.

"How are you guys doing? Having fun? Exchanging gossip?" The guy stepped closer, an evil laugh preceding his words. Tony gasped when he saw the blade shining in what little light made its way into their prison through the slightly open door.

"Leave him alone," Max warned.

"Oh yeah? You think you are in a position to tell me that?" The guy stepped closer to Tony, his eyes focussed on the helpless man in front of him. "I don't think so."

"You son of a bitch," Tony spat out.

"You know, I don't really care what you call me, you are gonna pay extra for every single insult anyway. My pleasure." With that he bent closer and let the blade wander along Tony's jaw line while he watch the other man tense, sweat appearing on his forehead. Narrowing his eyes he moved quickly, taking the blade away from Tony's neck, but ramming it deeply into Tony's thigh. The wounded man cried out, clutching his leg in an attempt to stop the breath taking pain. In a distance he could hear chains rattling as Max tried again to break free.

The moment he opened his eyes he could see the man making a move to push the knife into his stomach. In the very last second he move to the side. But not far enough. The sharp blade found entry into his side, another shot of pain cursing through his body, almost sending him into oblivion. But he fought the darkness and instead shot out his uninjured leg, kicking his opponent hard into his groin.

The guy yelped in pain, stumbling backward. He let go off the knife and Tony managed to grab it. Without really thinking he threw it over, hoping Max could reach it.

The other man had recovered and angrily attacked Tony, his fist connecting with Tony's jaw and bleeding stomach before he could even react. He didn't have the strength to fight him, his vision was fading, his head was spinning and he felt the urge to vomit. He took another few punches to different parts of his battered body before it stopped.

Darkness mercifully swallowed him.

xx

Max had been forced to watch her enemy attacking Tony. There had been nothing she could do but watch. She had yelled Tony's name but doubted that he could even hear her. Eventually she had witnessed in disbelief as Tony found the strength to fight back. When the blade fell from the other man's hand her hope increased. Then Tony reached for it and threw it towards her. Hastily she grabbed it, it was just in reach. Struggling a little while the two men continued their unequal fight she managed to open the lock and was free.

At lightening speed she took care of the guy, taking him out of the picture for quite a while. But she didn't care in the least, if he was dead she couldn't care less. She never even looked back at the now unconscious form.

"Tony, come on. Say something. You gotta wake up," she urged the still form of her former boyfriend, her hand lightly tapping his cheek. "We have to get outta here and get you to hospital. Come on."

Eventually she saw Tony's eyelids flutter; it took him quite some time to open them long enough to actually look at who he thought to be Max. His vision was unfocussed and he wasn't quite sure how many faces he actually saw in front of him. When he tried to move the slightest bit a white hot pain shot through his entire body. He took a sharp breath and clenched his jaw, his eyes wide open, pupils dilated. "Damn it."

"Do you think you can get up?" Max asked, her voice full of sympathy. "I could carry you, you know."

"No, no. I can do it. Just gimme a sec." He brought his hand in front of his face, shocked at the amount of blood he could now see.

"I'll bandage your leg wound, but the stomach will probably keep bleeding. Do you think you can press a hand on the wound?"

Tony nodded. He knew that the situation was serious, that he could bleed to death; he somehow had to ignore the pain, just act on autopilot and trust Max to keep him safe. Trust Max, trust the one woman who had betrayed him so badly. But it wasn't hard, he realized, it wasn't difficult to put his life in her hands.

Max acted quickly, ripping her sweater and wrapping it tightly around Tony's leg, hoping it would help still the bleeding and buy him enough time. "Okay, we need to go. You think you can handle it?"

"I'm cold," Tony stuttered, his movements were uncoordinated and his eyes still refused to focus appropriately.

"You can't go into shock on me, alright? This is not the time for it. You need to hold it together. Come on," Max repeated herself over and over, hoping some of it would get through to her friend.

She pulled him to his feet and he swayed alarmingly. He only kept standing due to Max's quick reflexes and extraordinary strength. "Let's go."

TBC


End file.
